Money management tips?

[FakeSmile]

My husband and I have been living together for 6 years - married for 5 of those - and between us we are really bad at managing and keeping track of our finances. I deal with all of the rent and bills etc and whilst I do things like shop around when our energy is due everything is on a direct debit and I just ignore it all month to month.

I am on maternity leave after having our third child in 4 years at the start of the year and so money is really tight. I’d like to get a better grasp on our finances, what we have coming in and out, what we have left over etc but I really don’t know where to start! I think we’d probably need to set a budget too but again, no idea where to start! I’d love for us to get rid of some of our debt but it’s not very achievable when I dont know what money we have to do so!

Please can I have your tips on how to get started, any good books to read, apps to use etc?

 

[AladdinSane]

This sounds really good and would be handy for me as I hate going into my bank account, it gives me the fear! I just wish I was better at designing spreadsheets etc!

I have a template that I could send over to you if you would like? It's really simple to use and has been a lifesaver for me

 

[Northeast1988]

For me and my hubby , we live off my wage and his wage goes into savings
I have all my direct debits between 1st and 10th so everything after the 10th is for us to spend on whatever we want x

 

[FakeSmile]

These are all great ideas and given me lots to think about, thank you so much!

One of the things that I find difficult to manage is that I get paid monthly whereas my husband gets paid 4 weekly so his date moves around.